HOLBEIN’S SIR THOMAS MORE
Hilary Mantel Xavier F. Salomon
The Frick Collection, New York In association with D Giles Limited, London FRICK DIPTYCH SERIES Designed to foster critical engagement and interest specialist and non-specialist alike, each book in this series illuminates a single work in the Frick’s rich collection with an essay by a Frick curator paired with a contribution from a contemporary artist or writer.
© 2018 The Frick Collection Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data “Letter to Thomas More, Knight” by Hilary Mantel © 2018 Names: Mantel, Hilary, 1952- author. | Tertius Enterprises Limited Salomon, Xavier F., 1979- author. | All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may Holbein, Hans, 1497-1543. Paintings. Selections. | Now that the sun hath veil’d his light, be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted Frick Collection, issuing body. And bid the world goodnight; Title: Holbein’s Sir Thomas More / Hilary Mantel and in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, To the soft bed my body I dispose, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written Xavier F. Salomon. permission of The Frick Collection. Other titles: Frick diptych series. But where shall my soul repose? Description: New York : The Frick Collection, in association —William Fuller, 1688 First published in 2018 by The Frick Collection with D Giles Limited, London, [2018] | 1 East 70th Street Series: Frick diptych series | Includes bibliographical New York, NY 10021 references and index. www.frick.org Identifiers: LCCN 2017040275 | ISBN 9781907804915 Subjects: LCSH: Holbein, Hans, 1497-1543. Sir Thomas Michaelyn Mitchell, Editor in Chief More. Hilary Becker, Associate Editor Classification: LCC ND588.H7 A75 2018 | Ma adesso che viene la sera ed il buio, mi toglie il dolore dagli occhi DDC 709.2--dc23 LC record available at In association with GILES E scivola il sole al di là delle dune a violentare altre notti An imprint of D Giles Limited https://lccn.loc.gov/2017040275 Io nel vedere quest’uomo che muore, madre io provo dolore 4 Crescent Stables, Image Credits London, SW15 2TN, UK Fig. 1: photo Michael Bodycomb; fig. 2: presented by The Nella pietà che non cede al rancore, madre ho imparato l’amore www.gilesltd.com Art Fund with the aid of an anonymous donation, 1909 —Fabrizio De André, 1970 Copyedited and proofread by Sarah Kane © The National Gallery, London; fig. 7: photo Volker Designed by Caroline and Roger Hillier, Naumann, Schönaich; figs. 8, 13, 29: © RMN-Grand The Old Chapel Graphic Design Palais / Art Resource, NY; figs. 9, 10, 14–19, 24, 25: Royal Collection Trust / © HM Queen Elizabeth II 2017; fig. 12: Typeset in Garamond bought with contributions from the National Heritage Produced by GILES Memorial Fund and The Art Fund and Mr. J. Paul Getty Printed and bound in China Jr. (through the American Friends of the National Gallery, London), 1992 © The National Gallery, London; fig. 21: Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-907804-91-5 © National Trust Images; figs. 26, 28: © Collection Front cover: Hans Holbein the Younger, Sir Thomas More, Longford Castle; fig. 27: photo P. Portner; figs. 30, 33: 1527 (detail of frontispiece) © National Portrait Gallery, London; fig. 32: © Fondazione Frontispiece: Hans Holbein the Younger, Sir Thomas More, Torlonia – ONLUS – photo Lorenzo De Masi; fig. 34: 1527, Oil on panel, 29 ½ × 23 ¾ in. (74.9 × 60.3 cm). Gabinetto Fotografico delle Gallerie degli Uffizi The Frick Collection, New York; p. 6: Hans Holbein Distributed in the USA and Canada by the Younger, Sir Thomas More and His Family, 1526–27 Consortium Book Sales & Distribution (detail of fig. 20); p. 10: Hans Holbein the Younger, The Keg House Sir Thomas More, 1527 (detail of fig. 14) 34 Thirteenth Avenue, NE, Suite 101 Minneapolis, MN 55413-1007 USA www.cbsd.com CONTENTS
Director’s Foreword 8
Acknowledgments 9
A LETTER TO THOMAS MORE, KNIGHT 11 Hilary Mantel
HOLBEIN’S SIR THOMAS MORE 19 Xavier F. Salomon
Bibliography 70
Index 72 A LETTER TO THOMAS MORE, KNIGHT
Hilary Mantel
My dear More . . . but here’s the first problem. How do I address you? Sir Thomas? St. Thomas? Lord Chancellor? I can’t just call you Thomas. Half the men in England are called that. Anyway, I don’t feel that kind of easy warmth, though one of your modern biographers says that most people who work with you end up liking you. Liking you, disliking you, it shouldn’t matter—not to sober historians. But when we see your portrait we respond to you as a man— sad, distinguished, aging, fiercely clever. It gives us a privileged view, as if we are with you in your chapel or writing closet: a way of looking that pierces the fog of misrepresentation, but allows us to see you with respect and in the light of the mercy we all need. Face to face, we can’t deny your flawed humanity. And if we admit to yours, why not ours? Objectivity is impossible. The waters were muddied long since, by early accounts contrived with one eye on fast-track sainthood. When your son-in- law Will Roper wrote your story, it was routine to make a Life into what it ought to have been, and it’s notable how some of your opinions firmed up, in the twenty years after your death. Fortunately, we don’t have to rely on second-hand reports from another generation. You talk, you write, you sit and look at Hans Holbein: Hans Holbein looks at you. He sees a vulpine genius. (I like foxes, I mean well.) You are engaged, vital, ready to smile or snap out an impatient remark. Intellect burns through pale indoor skin, like a torch behind a paper screen. Concentration has furrowed your brow, the effort of containing multiple ironies. When you practiced as a lawyer, you used to let your gown trail off one shoulder; admirers copied you, making carelessness a cult. You’ve not shaved to meet the painter. No time,
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